CONCORD, N.H. — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was back in the Granite State on Thursday for a string of campaign events which come just as his run toward the Republican nomination seems to be gathering some steam.

Christie started the day on Main Street in Concord at the Bank of New Hampshire Stage, where he joined a veterans forum hosted and broadcast by the radio program Good Morning New Hampshire. The former federal prosecutor was then scheduled to head toward the seacoast for a business roundtable in Portsmouth, followed by a town hall in Hampton.

With Christie just back from a trip to Israel, where he surveyed some of the towns struck by Hamas backed terrorists on October 7, the forum’s conversations touched briefly on the conflict in the Middle East, but focused primarily on the sacrifices made by U.S. service members and the government’s responsibility to veterans.

On the subject of service, Christie posed a question he said should be answered “as a generation.”

“What are we going to contribute to making this country better?” he asked. “I’ve already had a great American life. This country owes me nothing; I am in debt to the country.”

The two-term Garden State governor’s campaign had cause to celebrate as they moved around the first-in-the-nation primary state, where Christie suddenly finds himself polling in third in a slowly shrinking Republican field, behind former President Donald Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Trump, according to polling by the University of New Hampshire, enjoys the support of 42% of Granite State conservatives, while Haley nets 20% and Christie 14%.

“Trump fares far worse among moderates, earning only 18% of the vote among this group compared to 35% who support Haley and 33% who support Christie,” pollsters wrote.

Among the newest Republicans to lean into politics — the 17% polled who did not vote in 2016 — less than 10% are fans of the former president.

“Christie (36%) leads among these new voters followed by Haley (31%) while Trump earns only 9% of the vote among this group,” pollsters wrote.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was actually beating Trump in UNH’s January survey, but now finds himself polling in fourth and under 10%.

Pollsters noted that any Republican looking to trump “the Don” have their work cut out for them if they hope to win the Jan. 23 primary. A full 83% of polled Trump supporters said they are locked into that position and will support no one else, and just over half of New Hampshire Republicans say they have already made up their minds.

To complicate matters for Christie, 47% of polled New Hampshire Republicans said they wouldn’t vote for him under any circumstances. However, that’s down from 60% in September’s polling, showing how voters who are certain of their positions one day may feel very differently just weeks later.